Overview
When onboarding employees, you might have encountered a case where an employee is still a student. Students are treated slightly differently when it comes to tax and social security calculations.
Setting an Employee as a Student Employee
To set up a student on Talexio, the below fields are especially important (for information on how to add any type of employee, click here):
Date of birth
This is an important field in the Employee Details because students under 18 years of age pay a different social security amount to students ages 18 and over.
Use 10% Rate (If SSC Cat B)
If an employee falls under SSC Cat B, then they are entitled to choose whether to pay the weekly NI rate or else 10% of their weekly wage.
It is important to note that the 10% option under category ‘B’ applies only to those under a part time contract.
You can specify that an employee has opted to pay 10% SSC from the Other Payroll Information tab of the Employee Employment Position as shown below:
Employment Position
Here, you will be asked to choose whether the employee is a student. If you tick is student then you have set the employee as a student worker. However, upon ticking this button, a new field will pop up underneath. This is the Has apprenticeship contract button. If the employee is on a student apprenticeship, then you will need to tick it.
The difference between a student and a student apprenticeship
Students are those individuals who attend a course at the university of Malta (or any other university, sixth form, educational institution) but their studies are not related to their employment.
Student apprenticeships are special schemes offered by The Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) or similar institutions as recognised by the Government of Malta. Students who join the Apprenticeship Scheme will be employed on a definite contract throughout their course where they will be undergoing a period of study and assigned employment.
Below are the payroll differences for students and student apprentices:
Student |
Student Apprenticeship |
| Falls under CAT A, B, or C for SSC (Depending on income) | Falls under CAT E, or F (Depending on date of birth) |
| The stipends/grants receivable from the educational institution (albeit exempt from any tax) is considered as a main source of income and thus any part time employment activity sought and performed on own right may qualify to be taxed according to the rates as stipulated by the Part Time Rules (as long as all the part time criteria are adhered to). | Tax for student apprentices are the same as for students (see adjacent column). |
| Government bonus/allowance is as per normal employment (it is based on pro rata) | Are only entitled to June and December government bonuses (it is based on pro rata) |
| Leave is calculated pro rata | Leave is calculated based on the employee's contract |
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